Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Reflection

It has taken me a couple days to recover both mentally and physically from Nationals. The week was full of some major ups and downs- a roller coaster for sure!

Good moments-

1- OMNIUM CHAMP! In the big picture, this is what I needed. It's my goal to represent the USA at Worlds Championships in March in the Omnium. There I said it. I admitted it. With the news about the Omnium potentially being added to the Olympics, this event became even more important to me. I did it! I proved that I am the best all-around track racer in the USA.

2- Madison with Christen King. See picture below! Besides the fact that we somehow didn't know a team had attacked off the front (nobody else knew either), we killed this race. Fun! One of my favorite events on the track. This silver medal was a good moment... even though we prefer gold.3- All the Colorado people who came to LA this year to compete. I think we had 17 people representing Colorado. I admire all the people who are so new to the sport who came out, sucked up some pride, learned a ton, and had such a great attitude. There was also a ton of CO peeps who have been to Nationals before and really helped mentor the newbies. Fun group of people and lots of success! Thanks to John Cotton, Mark Tyson, and Pat McDonough for your tireless work.

Greg and his madison partner, Danny. Danny is 17 years old! Watch out world. Before the rolled tire and striped cog (150 laps into a 200 lap race), Greg and Danny were only 1 lap down and one of six teams with only 1 lap down.

Good times on and off the bike. Dan, what are you doing? I don't think I want to know.

4) Team pursuit! For NEVER having done a team pursuit together, Christen, Shelley, and I did really well for a silver medal. This is another one of my favorite events and I think PROMAN has some real potential. Congrats to Sarah, Dotsie, and Kim for GOLD!

5- Team Sprint Win! Glad to end the week with another GOLD!

Not so good moments-

1) I would like to know where I left my legs. If anyone has found them, please send them to me quickly as I leave for Europe next week and would like to have them there.

Seriously, my coaches and I have analyzed this over and over. We think we know what happened but it doesn't help me feel any better. I guess this is when you learn and move on.

Even though I still managed 2 golds, 4 silvers, and a 4th place... I was not fast this week.

For those who are cyclists and will understand- I was setting PR's the week I left for Interbike/Nationals. After arriving in LA on Friday night from 1.5 days at Interbike, I rode a 12.12 2oom on Saturday morning. I was upset with this time but could explain this after travel, Interbike, and heavy legs. My times never got better and actually got substantially worse.

All and all, it doesn't matter. I showed up and was not the fastest sprinter and didn't deserve to win the sprint events. I like knowing that I could still win some events with the way I was feeling :)

Every day I would show up at the track and wonder if I would open my wheel bag and find my legs. Some days, I just wanted to cry. Other days, I was pretty level headed about it.

Perspective- I have been racing/riding on the track for just over 3 years. I have come a long way and never really had a race where my legs didn't show up until this week (not including my first nationals where I blacked out during the 200m). I would rather get that over with and learn from it so it doesn't happen in the future. I did learn a ton. My coaches learned a ton. There is a list of small things we would change if we had the chance. These aren't excuses but learning moments.

2- I think the Keirin was the worst moment for me this week. 500m... ok, I wasn't fast on any level. Sprints... rolling a time like that, I deserved silver. Keirin... I was a DUMB bike racer.

Thank goodness for Greg this week. I was not exactly fun to be around and every day he was there to be supportive.

Some great racing by Cristin Walker this week! Congrats to all your WELL DESERVED wins. This is a picture of our first sprint in the finals.

3 comments:

Thank you for such an honest post Cari. I am nowhere near your level, but I constantly lose my legs, and then my conviction/last scraps of self-belief, often at critical times. It's heartening to know it's not just me being a middling bike rider. It happens to us all; a lot pretend that it doesn't and blame all sorts of things rather than doing what you have done in taking hold of it and working with it.

This meet has obviously given you so much: not just medals, but more knowledge about racing track, and about you as a track racer. Take it to the next level now girl. World Cup is yours!

Hi Cari, I read your entry after being referred by Lawrence and I know how you feel, I am not at your level, but it is great to hear someone not scared to say they felt like crap/heavy legs despite winning.....I had a similar experience last week, won a silver medal I knew I could have/should have won gold, should be happy, but I knew my legs were flat flat flat......so I havent complained, part of me was happy to be on the podium, but one part still said "Girl, you should have done better!"